The Crossland family’s self-build, LNER inspired GBS Zero....

By Andrew Crossland on behalf of the Crossland family.

This is the story of The Crossland family and our GBS Zero. Sadly, our story starts on a very sad note. In January 2019, our Dad was diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer. By the time it was diagnosed, it was too late to treat. However, as a family we all saw how it never broke his spirit and, in reality, actually cemented his strength, positivity and love of life. The following story should illustrate how true that is.

The early stages of cancer involve rest and extensive periods of realisation. For Dad, that meant time talking to family, processing his diagnosis and switching off by watching TV. Of the many series Dad watched, one episode of The Grand Tour stood out - where the team went to Mongolia and build a kit car. As the kit car raced across various obstacles, Dad became inspired to start another adventure. From that moment Dad decided he wanted to buy a kit car; and it took very little to persuade his sons James and Andrew to join in.

Within a month we had selected a car - a Zero by Great British Sports Cars who are based in the nearby town of Ollerton, Nottinghamshire. We took Dad to visit the factory and knew immediately that this was the place to get that dream car. Steve and Richard showed us around the factory, introduced us to the team and where the car would be built. Driving away from the factory we quickly decided that we wanted to work with GBS who, like The Crossland’s, are a family at heart.

Throughout the build of the car, GBS worked with us on all of details of the build and design. Numerous calls and emails followed. As we toured various hospitals and met with various consultants, Dad was involved. Sadly, Dad’s medical condition deteriorated and he passed away in July - leaving a devastated family but one strangely motivated and empowered by the attitude Dad took to his life. It’s worth saying how he never once complained about being diagnosed. For Dad it was part of his life and the path weaved for him. Ahead of him lay obstacles and targets, just like life always had. A major target was James’s birthday - and a speech that, typical of Dad, left us all crying and laughing. Treatment was a path to be walked. Hurry on Sundown, see what tomorrow brings. Life’s for living. We took every day step by step as a family and as close as we always had been.

James and I were fortunate to have that closeness throughout our upbringing. One of our earliest memories is standing on a grass bank in Retford watching a beautiful blue steam train on the East Coast Mainline. James, Dad, Grandad, our Great Grandfather and myself all worked on the railways and we grew up exploring our great country or visiting friends by train - initially on a free rail pass as part of Dad’s job. Trips to York with friends, girlfriends and family didn’t feel right without a trip to the National Railway Museum. In each trip came a seminal moment; walking up to Mallard. The locomotive was designed by Nigel Gresley and built opposite Dad’s office in Gresley House. Synonymous with an age of speed, Mallard became the world’s fastest running at 126mph in 1939. That record still stands today.

As a family, we have a tradition in the National Railway Museum of placing our hands on Mallard and uttering the immortal words “how are you doing old girl” before taking photos. In family, folklore these words were passed down from our Grandad who used to fire the engine. To friends from around the world it was a Crossland oddity and one that as a family we got used to being laughed at as we took photos. To James and I, Mallard is that beautiful blue train that we watched from the grass bank during our childhood.

A few weeks after Dad passed away, I visited York with a close friend. As is traditional and non-negotiable, Mallard featured in the trip and memories came flooding back. A few weeks later, James and I contacted GBS with our idea - to change the theme of our car from British Racing Green to a custom designed paying homage to Mallard and our relationship with it.

Initially, it was an email sent with much trepidation. We actually made two requests to GBS - firstly for completely customised paint work and also to run the car on biofuel (more on that in another blog). Steve, Richard and the team immediately responded and they seemed genuinely excited by the idea. Within a few weeks, we visited the factory where Richard had marked up the vehicle with his proposed design. The attention to detail Richard had paid to the design blew me away, and he spotted parts of the locomotive’s design that I had never seen before. This was also Mum’s first trip to GBS and we were quickly joined by the rest of the GBS team to discuss the design. Perhaps it was the emotion of the day for us, but we genuinely felt an energy and excitement about the car. We drove away with a smile.

At this stage it’s also important to mention a small additional feature to the vehicle which is important to myself. I work in renewable energy with environmentalism and carbon saving really critical to my being. As a result of discussions with GBS, we believe that this will be the first biofuel compatible Zero in the world, meaning that I can drive the car in the knowledge that it has environmental credentials which drive everything I do in my professional life.

Within weeks the car was painted and the family sat enjoying photos of our beautiful garter blue vehicle coming together via emails from GBS and on social media – an amazing feet given that we were living our lives in New Zealand, Warwick and Retford.

The big reveal and delivery of the vehicle came on 17th December 2019 at the GBS factory in Ollerton. It was clear to us as a family how excited GBS were about the car, and that was evident by the smiles and warm welcome we (Mum, Nana, James and I) received on arrival. Steve, Ruth and Richard were evidently thrilled by the car and appearance. The result is a stunningly beautiful, tastefully delivered and hugely charismatic custom painted vehicle that we are thrilled to start putting together. The car looks even better in person than in the photos.

Writing this we are about to embark on the build. As a family we will share photos with you via GBS. We also hope that, once built, the car will be used by GBS to showcase the Zero and the customisation options available to enthusiasts – from paint to biofuels.

As Great British Sports Cars we were delighted to have met Andrew and James’s dad and pleased that he got the chance to visit the GBS factory, we are sure he would be very proud of his Sons and Family. As soon as the Crosslands let us know about their paint idea, we thought this would be stunning and we were excited as it is something very different and also very special.

The Zero was sat in our workshop for a while before it was collected and attracted a lot of attention especially when it was on display at our Christmas Cars & Coffee event beginning of December. Their Zero spec is a 175 calibre and will be powered by a Ford 2L Zetec engine and is biofuel ready. We look forward to following the Crossland’s build and sharing more with you as it progresses.